Reversible rotary dial calendar mechanism



22, 1967 N. KONDUR, JR. ETAL 3,336,863

REVERSIBLE ROTARY DIAL CALENDAR MECHANISM Filed May 6, 1965 INVENTORS. lV/CHOLAS KO/VDU/i JR; BY R0/VALD H. MACK.

"ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,336,863 REVERSIBLE RQTARY DIAL CALENDAR MECHANISM Nicholas Kondur, .lia, Northville, and Ronald H. Mack,

Plymouth, Mich, assignors to Burroughs Corporation,

Detroit, Mich, a corporation of Michigan Filed May 6, 1965, Ser. No. 453,728 Clairns. (Cl. 10193) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE respective linkages whenever a new date is to be set up.

This invention relates to a rotary dial calendar date setting device, and, more particularly, to a reversible calendar date setting device, suitable for utilization on high speed electronic calculating machines.

Various rotary dial mechanisms for recoding calendar dates into calculating mechanisms are well known in the prior art. One such mechanism is shown in FIGURE 3 of Patent No. 3,021,053 issued on Feb. 13, 1962, to B. A. Runde et al. of common ownership with the owner of this application.

Although the invention herein disclosed may be utilized on any machine wherein information contained on indicia bearing rotary dials is to be printed out on documents processed by the machine, the invention will be described as a dater used in conjunction with the accounting machine of the type described in Patent No. 3,021,053 although operating at increased speeds.

In prior art devices such as the dater shown in FIGURE 3 of Runde et al. Patent No. 3,021,053, the rotary dial shown therein employed cam plates which were set by the respective four dial wheels (month, units and tens of days, and year). These cam plates have been frequently found to lose mechanical alignment and positive control positioning of the indexing sectors, thus requiring frequent adjustment.

In one type of dating mechanism similar to the Runde dater, the dial wheels position indexing slides which in turn control the dilferential positioning of print bar actuator racks. The indexing slides are automatically disengaged from their respective dial wheels or control knobs after each printing operation in order to permit rotation of the dial wheels in either direction. This disengagement is impractical for use on current accounting machines, since the operating speeds of such machines are considerably faster than the Runde machine. In addition, in normal use the control knobs are set daily and left unchanged. Therefore, the automatic withdrawal of the indexing slides after each printing operation, when thousands of such operations occur daily, causes considerably unnecessary wear of the mechanism. Furthermore, the prior art daters contain means for locking the control knobs in place to prevent any accidental alteration in their settings. The automatic withdrawal of the indexing slides after each printing operation made it impractical to operably connect each withdrawal of the indexing slides with a mechanism for unlocking the control knobs.

It is, therefore, the principal object of this invention 3,336,853? Patented Aug. 22, I967 to provide an accurate and trouble-free date setting device for a printing calculating machine.

It is a further object of this invention to provide, in a datesetting device, an improved mechanism for retracting the indexing slides of a calculating machine which mechanism is reliable in operation, reasonable in cost, and independent of the printing speed or machine cycles of the accounting machine in which it is associated.

It is an additional object of this invention, where a method of locking the control knobs is employed, to provide a mechanism for simultaneously removing the indexing slides of a printing calculating machine from their respective control knobs while unlocking the locking mechanism.

Applicant has achieved the above-listed and other desirable features by employing in a machine having print bars, a dater comprising a plurality of hand-positioned indicia bearing dial wheels, each such dial wheel having a spiral-shaped star wheel affixed thereto, wherein a line drawn through the points of the teeth of any of said star wheels forms substantially a helical arc, a plurality of indexing slides, each of said slides being engageable with and biased into the teeth of an associated star wheel, a plurality of detent means for setting the indicia bearing knobs while yielding in response to appreciable torques, means for locking said control knobs at a given setting, means for withdrawing said indexing slides from being operably engaged with their associated star wheels while simultaneously unlatching the lock means, and means connected to each of said indexing slides and movable in response to the position thereof for setting the print bars of the machine. Thus, each of the indicia bearing knobs controls the positioning of its associated star wheel. The position of each indexing slide is altered in response to the rotation of its associated star wheel. A detent mechanism is provided to provide distinct settable positions of each of the control knobs. In order to prevent the accidental movement of the indicia bearing control knobs, a locking device is provided, and the actuation of the mechanism for removing the indexing slides, in order to permit the rotation of the control knobs in either direction, also unlatches the locking device.

The above listed objects and other aspects of applicants invention will be further explained in the following detailed description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which disclose, by way of example, the preferred embodiment of applicants invention. For a more complete understanding of applicants invention, reference may be had to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a spread perspective drawing of a date setting mechanism embodying the principles of applicants invention.

FIG. 2 is a side view of the control indicia bearing knob mechanism as viewed in the direction 2-2 of FIG. 1 and showing the shape of a star wheel and a detent wheel.

With reference to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, there are four individually rotatable dial wheels 11 and wherein 11a and b control the day of the month, 11c controls the month, and 11d the year. Each dial wheel 11 has an indicia barrel or hub portion 13 to which is secured a spiralshaped star wheel 15 and a circular detent wheel 17. The dial wheels and their associated star wheels and detent wheels are rotatingly coaxially mounted on fixed studs 19 which correspond to the studs 4128 of the aforementioned Runde et al. patent. With reference to FIG. 2, the angles of the notches 18 of each detent wheel 17 are chosen forpermitting easier rotation in a first direction, as described hereinafter. Each star wheel 15 is configured so that the successive teeth thereof are radially spaced at gradually increased distances from the axis of stud 19, wherein a line drawn through the teeth forms at least a 3 portion of a spiral or helical are which curves about the stud 19. The number of teeth on each star wheel 15 varies from twelve for the star wheel 15 associated with the year to three for the star wheel 15 associated with the tens digit of the days of the month.

Rotation of a dial wheel 11 controls the differential positioning of a reciprocal indexing slide 21, one of which is provided for each dial assembly. Each slide has an upstanding lug 23 thereon, which is received between adjacent teeth of its associated star wheel 15, and is individually coupled through bails 25 and levers 27 to correspondingly position one of four arcuately shaped indexing stop sectors 29. Each bail 25 has one end pivotally mounted on a common shaft 28, and has its other end pivotally mounted through an aperture 26 on a shaft, which may be an extension of shaft 28. Each sector 29 has a series of notched steps or teeth 31 on the rearwardly facing edge thereof and is pivotally mounted about a pivot 41. Springs 33 hold the stop sectors 29, bails 25 and slides 21 under tension, so that when a dial wheel 11 is rotated in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 1, an indexing slide 21 follows the steps on the spiral star wheel 15 and is positioned thereby. A detent 39, tensioned by a spring 38, is provided for each dial wheel assembly. The detent 39 drops into a notch 18 in its circular detent wheel 17, for yieldingly setting a dial wheel 11 as it is rotated from one position to the next.

When the indexing slides are retracted by a mechanism hereinafter described, the dial wheels 11 may be rotated in either direction, due to the configuration of the notches 18 in the detent Wheels 17. Specifically, as shown in FIG. 2, each notch 18 has a flat bottom or base portion and first and second side walls forming first and second obtuse angles, respectively, with the base portion. The first obtuse angle is slightly greater than the second obtuse angle so that the detent wheel, in cooperation with its associated spring biased detent lever 39, will permit its corresponding dial wheel to rotate more easily in one direction than in the opposite direction. In the exemplary embodiment shown in FIG. 1, relatively free rotation is achieved in the direction of the arrow.

A date to be printed during a printing machine cycle is set by appropriately adjusting the dial wheels 11. This causes movement of the indexing slides 21, which in turn causes bails 25 to be pivoted about their pivot points 26 and 28. The motion of bails 25 is transmitted through levers 27 to the sectors 29 which are pivoted about pivot points 41 to position-s dependent on the dial wheel settings. During the printing operation, an actuator rack 37 moves rectilinearly until its lug 35 engages one of the teeth 31 on stop sector 29. The print bars are set in response to the positioning of the actuator rack 37. For a detailed description of one method of setting print bars in response to the positioning of an actuator rack see Patent No. 2,629,549 issued Feb. 24, 1953 to Thomas M. Butler. This patent is of common ownership with the owner of the present application and is extensively referenced in the Runde et al. Patent No'. 3,021,053 (see column 5, line 22), hereinbefore referred to. The print bar setting mechanism is described in the Butler patent beginning in column 46, and is illustrated in FIG. 56, in Which rack 512 and the lug 510 thereon correspond to rack 37 and lug 35, respectively, in the present application.

To lock dial wheels 11, there is provided a date lock lever 43 which permits, when shifted to the right, as seen in FIG. 1, a single locking slide 45 to move forwardly under bias of spring 64 to position hooked portions 47, formed on the lock slide, over the laterally rightwardly extending ears 49 of the detents 39 associated with all but the tens of days dial wheel to prevent these detents 39 from rising and thereby prevent the aforesaid dials 11 from being rotated. The tens days detent 39' is locked by a stud 40 carried on the locking slide 45 which stud is positioned over the rightwardly extending ear 49' of the de- 4 tent 39'. When the date lock lever 43 is shifted to the left, the lock slide 45 is cammed rearwardly against the bias of spring 64, releasing the detents 39 and permitting rotation of the dials 11.

The indexing slides 21 may be retracted from their respective star Wheels 15 upon the depression of a reversing key 51 which permits the dials 11 to be individually rotated in a direction opposite to that of the arrow. Depression of the key 51 carries its stem 53 into engagement with one arm of bellcrank 55. The other arm of the bellcrank 55 is connected to a rod 57 which, on depression of key 51, engages a downwardly extending forwardly located lug 59 on each of the indexing slides 21 to retract and hold all indexing slides 21 out of engagement with their respective star wheels 15. Since indexing slides 21 are biased into the star wheels 15 by the action of springs 33, the star wheels 15 can only be turned in the direction of the arrow unless indexing slides 21 are pulled free of star wheels 15. If locking slide 45 is in the lock position, slide 45 must be moved to the unlock position if the control knobs 11 are to be turned. To accomplish this there is placed on the stem 53 of the reversing key 51 a lateral extension 61 which cams the locking slide 45 rearwardly through cam surface 62 acting on stud 63 against the tension of spring 64 when the reversing key 51 is actuated, thereby freeing detents 39. The reversing key 51, therefore, has the'dual functions of retracting the indexing slides 21 and releasing the detents 39, if locked.

The foregoing drawings and descriptions are to be understood as exemplary only and are not intended in any way to limit the scope of applicants invention which is set forth in the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a cyclically operable machine having differentially positionable print bars the combination of a plurality of indicia bearing knobs,

a plurality of axially mounted rotatable spiral-shaped star wheels formed with successive teeth radially spaced at gradually increased distances from the axis of rotation, wherein a line through the points of the teeth of each of said star wheels forms substantially a helical arc, each of said star wheels being controlled by a respective one of said knobs,

a plurality of indexing slides, each of said indexing slides having a member biased into the teeth of an associated star wheel for selectively positioning said indexing slides in response to the degree of rotation of said star wheels,

a plurality of detent means for yieldably holding each of the respective star wheels in a set position,

means independent of the machine cycle for simultaneously retracting all of said indexing slides out of engagement with said teeth, and

means for operably engaging said indexing slides to said print bars for setting said print bars in response to the position of said indexing slides.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein said means for simultaneously retracting all of said indexing slides includes a reversing key having a stem,

a rod,

a plurality of lugs, one of said lugs being mounted on each of said indexing slides and positioned for engagement with said rod, and

a bellcrank having one arm attached to said rod, and

the other arm positioned for actuation by said reversing key stem.

3. The apparatus of claim 2 additionally including means for locking said detent means to rigidly hold all of said star Wheels against rotation and means operably connecting said locking means to said reversing key for unlatching said locking means in response to the actuation of said reversing key.

4. The apparatus of claim 2 wherein said detent uneans includes a plurality of detent wheels, each of said detent wheels said detents into their respective detent wheel notches being connected to its associated star wheel, and and being operable in another position to free said being configured with a plurality of notches each of detents, said notches having a base and first and second sides a lateral extension on said reversing key stern, said exrespectively forming first and second angles with 5 tension having a cam face for camrning said locking said base to permit bidirectional rotation of said slide out of its locked position in response to the detent wheel, wherein rotation in one direction is downward movement of said stern. relatively restrained compared to rotation in the opposite direction, and References Cited a plurality of spring biased detents, each of said detents being engageable with its associated detent 10 UNITED STATES PATENTS Wheel and being shaped for engagement in said 3,021,053 /1 Runde t a1. 23560 notches, 3,088,400 5/1963 Berglund et a1. 10193 5. The apparatus of claim 4 further including a locking slide being operable in one position to lock 15 WILLLAM B. PENN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A CYCLICALLY OPERABLE MACHINE HAVING DIFFERENTIALLY POSITIONABLE PRINT BARS THE COMBINATION OF A PLURALITY OF INDICIA BEARING KNOBS, A PLURALITY OF AXIALLY MOUNTED ROTATABLE SPIRAL-SHAPED STAR WHEELS FORMED WITH SUCCESSIVE TEETH RADIALLY SPACED AT GRADUALLY INCREASED DISTANCES FROM THE AXIS OF ROTATION, WHEREIN A LINE THROUGH THE POINTS OF THE TEETH OF EACH OF SAID STAR WHEELS FORMS SUBSTANTIALLY A HELICAL ARC, EACH OF SAID STAR WHEELS BEING CONTROLLED BY A RESPECTIVE ONE OF SAID KNOBS, A PLURALITY OF INDEXING SLIDES, EACH OF SAID INDEXING SLIDES HAVING A MEMBER BIASED INTO THE TEETH OF AN ASSOCIATED STAR WHEEL FOR SELECTIVELY POSITIONING SAID INDEXING SLIDES IN RESPONSE TO THE DEGREE OF ROTATION OF SAID STAR WHEELS, A PLURALITY OF DETENT MEANS FOR YIELDABLY HOLDING EACH OF THE RESPECTIVE STAR WHEELS IN A SET POSITION, MEANS INDEPENDENT OF THE MACHINE CYCLE FOR SIMULTANEOUSLY RETRACTING ALL OF SAID INDEXING SLIDES OUT OF ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID TEETH, AND 